Safety appliance for trains.



J. J. CORNER.

. SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5 I917 Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- J. J. CORNER.

SAFETY APPLIANCE ron TRAINS.

APrUCATlON FIVLED JULY 5.1917. Patented Mar. 19.

2 SHEQIS-SHEET 2.

JOHN JOSEPH CORNER, SOURI S, MANITOBA, CANADA.

' SAFETY APILIANCE FOR TRAINS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, JOHN JOSEPH CORNER, of the town of Sour-is, in the Province of Manitoba, Canada, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances for; Trains, of which the following is the specification.

The invention relates to a safety appliance for trains and the principal object of the invention is to provide an attachment which can be readily applied on a train of cars equipped with an air brake system and will automatically operate to set the brakes in the event of anything going wrong with the track, road bed or running gear and by so doing will bring the train to a stop before a serious accident has occurred.

I A further object of the invention is to construct the appliance in a regular, simple and durable manner so that it can be easily and quickly applied on the cars and standardized. V V

With the above'objects in view the invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter more particularly described and later pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 represents a side view of a train of cars equipped with my invention.

Fig. 2 represents an'enlarged detailed side viewof the appliance as associated with a plan view of the parts I11 the following description I have notconsidered it necessary to the understanding of my invention to enlarge on the present air brakesystem as installed on trains as this is well understood by those familiar with the art. The only point which is of value to me is that in such systems a drop in the pressure of the air in the air brake system operates to set the brakes with which the train is equipped and in so doing stops the train.

Specification ofLetters Patent.

- Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

Application filed July 5, 1917. Serial No. 178,767.

I In applying my invention to a train of cars desire to equlp the tram so that if anything irregular occurs in the running gear of the train or if for any reason the Wheels are thrown from the track the irregularity will effect an operatlon which will automatically release the pressure in the air brake system and accordingly will set the brakes.

WhileI have shown the invention as applied on two cars, still it will be understood that it will be applied on all cars of a train of cars and can be'also installed on the 10- comotive and tender so that the entire train is directly under the control of my system.

Referring now to-the drawings 1 represents a locomotive,2 a tender and a 5. In the present systems the cars are equipped with an air brake system controlled by the engineer 'in the cab and extending throughout the completelength of the train of cars. In the drawings the main air pipe line is indicated by the reference numeral 6 and in so far as this line pipe is concerned it is tobe understood that any drop in the'pressure of the air inthe pipe line effects the setting of the air brakes. As hereinbefore intimated I do not consider it necessary to enlarge on the manner in which the brakes are actuated through the drop in pressure in the pipe line as this I is well understood and forms no part of the present invention.

Associated with each of the trucks of the cars I provide the following parts.

,7 and 2 represent pairs of parallel brackets passing lengthwise of the car trucks in a location above. the truck frame 9 and having their ends permanently securedto the underside of the car as indicated at 10. Each bracket carries a plurality of rocker bars 11, some singly hooked as'indicated at 12 and others doubly hooked as shown at 13 and Li. The rocker bars are all mounted on centrally located pivot pins 15 extending from the sides of the bracket and the doubly hooked ones are associated with the car whe'els16 while the singly hooked ones are associated with the other parts of the running gear such as the brake'beams 17 and spring planks 18.

Adjoining the brackets I locate 1ongitu-' dinally disposed slidably mounted valve rods 19 and 20 which have their rear ends connected in each instance to the levers 21 and 22 of similar air discharge valves 23 and 24: suitably carried'from the underside of the car and in a location to the rear of the trucks.

The valves23 and 24areboth of similar construction and are of well known design. Each comprises a casing 25 inclosing an interior air chamber 26 in which operates a valve 27 mounted on a verticallydisposed valve stem 28 which is held normally pressed upwardly by'a coil spring 29 hearing a gainst thelowerend of the stem and hol ing the valve normally seated or closed, against the seat 30.

An outlet duct 81 is provided in the upper part of the casing which puts the chamber 26 in communication with atmosphere when the valve is unseated. An inlet port32 op'ens'to the chamber 25 and is directly connected by means of a branch pipe 33 with the main pipe line 6 so that the air pressure in the interior of the casing is the same as the air pressure in the line pipe when the valve is closed.

The upper end of the valve stem in each instance is positioned directly beneath the underside of the valve lever which it will be observed isprovided with'two similar laterally disposed hooks 3i and 35 which'are normally caught on stationary cross pins 36 and '37.

Frcm this arrangement it will be obvious that the valve lever ineither instance can be rocked either forwardly or backwardly with the result that ineither movement the underside of the said leverwill strike the upper protruding end of the stem and force it downto release the valve from the seat and bring the interior of the casing in direct communication through the port 31 with. the atmosphere. I V

\Vhen this occurs a reduction of the pressure in the pipe line 6 will be effected, which reduction will operate to set the train brakes in the well known way. At this point it is again mentioned that the rods 19 and 20 are connected to the upper ends of the levers. Each rod is supplied with a plurality of outstanding striker pins 38 which extend to the inner sides of the hooks of the rocker bars and are arranged so that when the rod is shifted it will effect the swinging of the .rocker bars on their pivotpoints.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 5, it Will be seen that the faces of the hooks which are adapted to engage with the striker pins are curved in a particular manner so that in the longitudinal shifting movement of the rods the striker pinswill not bind with the hooks but will-engage with and rideonthe faces of the hooks for aninten val sufiicientto allow of the movement of the rocker bars. The doubly hooked rocker bars carry downwardly extending arms 39 and in this connection, while I have'shown the downwardly extending arms as asso 'ciated with the brake beams and spring planks, still'lt wish it'to be understood that these could be supplied for any other part of the truck which is apt to break loose and fall and cause accident.

Considering a train of cars equipped with this invention, it will be readily seen that should the wheels mount the rails or should the road bed be broken, to allow the wheels to drop, the brakes will be applied as either an up or a down movement of any wheel axle will cause the fingers 4.1 or those l2 to be struck to effect either an'up or a down movement i the bar 39. Any such move ment produced in any one of these bars 39 will rock the rocker bar a'ndcausc one or other of the striker pins associated with-the hooks 13 and 14 to be shifted and they'in shifting shift the valverod and operate the valve lever to release the valve 27 thusreducing thepressure in the pipe line'which sets the brakes and stopsthe train.

The same action occurs should any" such part such a brakeb'eam orspring plank become loose and drop. In dropping it will hit the finger 45which will efiect through the arm-4E3, the rocker 'bar, hook andstriker pin, the shifting of the rod to manipulate the valve and reduce the pressure in the pipe line. Accordingly a train equipped with my invention is entirely controlled, that is to say, no matter what may go wrong with the track, road bed or running gear any mishap will operate automatically to set the brakes and bring the train to a stop.

What I claim as my invention'is:

1. In a safety appliance for trains equipped with an air brake system, the combination with the air brake system and the trucks of the train embodying the axles, brake beams and spring planks, ofmeans for automatically effectinga reduction of pressure in the air brake system upon the occurrence of any irregular movement of the axles, brake beams and spring planks, said means being actuated by the irregular movement of anyef such members.

2- In a safety appliance for trains equipped with'an air brake system, th'e'combination with the air brake system and the trucks of the train embodying the axles,

brake beams and spring planks, of an air discharge valve connected with the air brake system and means connecting the air valve with the truck in a manner such that any irregular movement of either the axle, brake beam or spring plank will effect the automatic operation of the valve to reduce the pressure in the air brake system.

3. In a safety appliance for trains equipped with an air brake system, the combination with the air brake system and the trucks of the train embodying the axles, brake beams and spring planks, of an air discharge valve connected with the air brake system, a shiftable rod connected with the valve and passing to the truck, arms associated with the trucks and engageable with the brake beams, spring planks and axles and an operating connection between the arms and the rod adapted to actuate the rod to release the valve and effect a reduction of pressure in the air brake system upon either the axle, spring plank orbrake beam shifting to an irregular position.

4. In a safety appliance for trains equipped with an air brake system, the combination with the air brake system and the trucks 0f the train embodying the axles, brake beams and spring planks, of an air discharge valve connected with the air brake system, a shiftable rod connected with the valve and passing to the truck, pivotally mounted. hooked rocker bars disposed adjacent the rod, pins extending from the rod and adjoining the hooks, arms hanging from the rocker bars" and fingers closely associated with the axles, brake beams and spring planks and carried by the arms and adapted in the irregular shifting of the brake beams, axles and spring planks to effeet the shifting of the rod and the release of the Valve to reduce the air pressure of the air brake system. a

S igned at Souris this 26th day of Ma 191 JOHN JOSEPH CORNER.

In the presence of H. E. DEMPSEY, J. W. BUNKEY. Q

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

